People increasingly interact by way of networked group communication mechanisms. Mechanisms of this type include chat rooms, virtual environments, conference calls, and online collaboration tools.
Group networked environments offer many advantages, including the ability to bring together many individuals in a collaborative fashion without the need for mass group travel to a common meeting place. However, group networked environments often fall short in one important aspect of human communication: richness. It may be challenging to convey certain aspects of group interaction that go beyond speech. For example, the air of authority that a supervisor or other organization superior conveys in a face-to-face environment may be lacking in a networked environment. As another example, a networked group interaction may fail to convey the many subtle and not-so-subtle expressions of mood that may accompany proximity, dress, body language, and inattentiveness in a group interaction.